


Learning to Walk Straight

by Myrrlhe



Category: Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, Other random people that are somehow crucial to the plot, i blame 1 person. it is myself.
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-12
Updated: 2018-05-25
Packaged: 2019-03-30 08:32:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13947798
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Myrrlhe/pseuds/Myrrlhe
Summary: Waver becomes an adult, in the year 1995, in Fuyuki, Japan.





	1. Chapter 1

"Come on." Waver muttered. He pressed the d-pad on the controller, leading his main lord to the boss. The boss only had a third of its health, but his healer was far away. If the lord didn't manage to beat the boss in this turn, there was a very good chance that he would get a game over. With a gulp, he clicked on the enemy, initiating the fight. He stared at the TV's blaring screen, for one second, two seconds, three-

"YES!" Waver almost threw his controller up in the air as he punched the air in exhilaration. He'd been toiling on this particular map for about 2 hours now, the night well over his sleep schedule. He clicked the save button with a satisfacted finality, ready to turn in for the night.

"Waver?" He shot up, somehow managing to land on his feet. Glen stood at the doorway, eyes crinkled into a stern look. "It's way past your bedtime, young man."

Waver hung his head. "Sorry." He was used to getting scolded, but this one somehow made him feel bad. He snapped the TV off. Without the bright lights and the sound, the room suddenly felt a lot smaller. A pang shook his chest, but he ignored it. "I won't let it happen again."

Glen paused for a terrifying second, then broke into a chuckle. The unexpected sound startled Waver, blinking in confusion. "Come on Waver. Let's take another trip to the roof." As sudden as he appeared, he left, the creaks of the floors in his wake. Waver stared at the spot where the old man was. Try as all he might, he just couldn't understand how the man's mind worked.

* * *

The stars were just as bright as the last time Waver went up here 2 months ago. Setting the lamp down, he nestled right next to Glen, a blanket already waiting for his arrival. "Have some coffee." Accepting the cup from the wizened hands, he held it in his own, drinking in the warmth."The sky is too beautiful tonight for you to be playing games in your room."

"Mm." If he closed and opened his eyes again, maybe he could convince himself that it was 2 months ago, before the Fuyuki New City fire, before marching out with Rider in the dead of night. Maybe maybe maybe.

"So what's been happening in work, young man? Tell your grandfather everything." Glen's eyes twinkled as he looked at him. He briefly wondered if this was the old man's plan all along. That would mean the old man would have more magic than he ever would.

"It's fine." Waver took a sip of coffee, the bitter liquid swilling on his tongue. Glen chuckled at him making a face, making him blush. "I talk to kids in English, teach them some basic grammar. For how easy it is, it pays surprisingly well."

Glen hmmed, taking a sip of his own. "Teaching is only as easy as how much you're skilled at it. You should be more proud of yourself, Waver."

"Easy for you to say." He muttered to his cup of coffee.

"I heard that." Damn. He braced himself for a verbal slamming, scrunching up his eyes. One second, two seconds, three seconds... Slowly, he looked up, regarding the old man warily. He looked the same as he was, eyes still twinkling under the bush of his brows. "Were you expecting something, young man?"

He felt his blush come back. "N-No." _Damn_ him and his ego.

Glen chuckled. "I know I brew some good coffee, but I promise you're missing out by not looking up. The stars are especially beautiful tonight."

He wasn't going to argue with that. It certainly looked better than back at London at least, without the constant rain clouds and city smog. "It looks a lot better higher up." With strong tearing winds, that flatten ears, and dry out eyes, dizzyingly so that he can barely see anything sans the blinks of the masses of hydrogen up in space.

"Is that so." They stayed silent for a while. Waver pulled himself tighter, holding the scrunched up blanket close to his chest. The night air was chill verging on cold so he was glad for something to warm him up, even if it were just a meager handful of a blanket. He grabbed his cup again, taking a sip. The starlight trembled along with the dark liquid, blurring into something familiar. Frowning, he downed the entire cup in retaliation.

"Well, seems we're all out of coffee." Glen pulled himself up with a weight that only old people have. "You're going to have to go back to sleep now, young man. Don't want to keep the kids waiting."

He smiled in return. Glen deserved that much. "I'll try."

Right before the man ducked into the house, he poked his head back out. "Oh and Waver?" The light behind his eyes were deeper, twinkle now burning steady. "You're going to have to step beyond that inner fence of yours." He winked before Waver could ask what in the blazing hell did that even mean. "Work on it."

With that he was gone, leaving the sounds of feet descending the stairs in his wake. Grumbling, Waver picked up the left-behind thermos and the cups. This wasn't a Frost, not even a Hemingway. There weren't any metaphors or symbolism in real life.

A particularly strong gust of wind scratched the nape of his neck and he flinched, jerking away with an ungainly step and a yelp. He ended up back first on the door, landing with a solid thud. As he glanced up from the recent failure, the sky seemed to zoom in front of him, forcing him against the wall. His breath caught. It was big, too big, too empty, too grand. 

And he was here, all alone-

He opened the door and fled, away from the looming vacancy and the cold gleaming stars.


	2. Chapter 2

As the clock on the wall ticked past noon, Waver was regretting everything that had led up to this point in life. With his textbook as a headrest, he was leaning on a table, a pitiful attempt for some rest. Surprisingly heavy amounts of loneliness and guilt coupled with coffee didn't result in a good sleep. Who would have thought? And here he was now, saddled with gigantic bags under his eyes and a pounding headache that refused to go away, even after a strong cup of tea. The dark helped though, at least more than the light did.

Another wave of pounding rolled through his head and he stifled a grumble. Maybe he should just skip lunch and stay in this empty classroom until he had to go teach again. His stomach rumbled but he swept it under his mental rug with a stubborn backhand. Sleep deprivation robbed him of his appetite anyway.

A bout of wild laughter jumped out from the jumble of background noises and Waver winced. He turned his head over, peeking through the open door that he just couldn't bother to close. Blocky backpacks filled the view of the academy's lobby, with their young owners no doubt pressed against the out-of-sight elevators. He snorted, turning away. They sure were lively when not in his class. Did it kill them to actually say something when he asked a question? A brick wall would be less embarrassing to talk to. Be more proud of yourself.' His brows furrowed at Glen's words from last night. Like hell. He couldn't even get a bunch of 8-year-olds to listen.

"Hey." The lights switched on, and his head snapped up. "You should go home."

He squinted from the sudden influx of light, the pressure behind his eyes doubling. "...I work here."

The blurry figure moved. "Oh, so you're the new teacher? I wasn't expecting to you to be so..."

This time Waver's narrowed eyes had nothing to do with the brightness of the room. "So what?" His vision had cleared enough to see the offender, a young man, maybe in his 20s, with strong waves of blond for hair.

The man shrugged. "To be so young. And here I thought I was the youngest teacher here."

"I assure you that I'm of age if that's what you're implying." He replied, every word stiff as a board. Had he not gotten enough of this mockery back in the Clock Tower?

He'd picked up the book, ready to leave when the man spoke again. "No, I think it's great!" His fingers stiffened on the textbook's hardcover. Huh. "I was wondering when we'd finally get another foreigner here." The man winked at him like there was some sort of inside joke. "Not saying the people here aren't nice, but let's say they're not up for conversations too much."

If Waver were to narrow his eyes even more than now, he would go blind. "Excuse me?" Maybe sleep deprivation had a bigger impact on his thinking capabilities than he thought.

The man laughed, loud enough for him to wake up a bit. "You should probably get some lunch, have some coffee. The insurance coverage here isn't big enough for hospitalization if you collapse." With another wink, the man walked away, leaving him still processing the other's words. Were those supposed to be insults? They didn't sound like it... Maybe they just weren't good insults.

Another rumbling echoed through his gut. He groped for his wallet. 6000 yen, enough for a bento and a can of coffee. He sighed. There better be a katsu bento in stock this time, he wasn't sure his tongue could take a miso one for the fourth time.

* * *

His bag made a solid thunk as it landed on the small table in his 'workspace'. Really, it was just two dividers screwed together to a desk against the wall of the teacher's office. Talk about low budget. The moth-eaten swivel chair squeaked as Waver settled his weight on it. Textbook goes here, his notes go there. It was a sequence that he was used to, sorting away stacks of books on the floor, on the tables, the bed. Hm. Maybe he wasn't that organized as he thought. He winced as he remembered those stacks toppling over him more than the occasional once. Definitely not.

Waver's hand touched the last item left in his bag. Ever so slightly the back of the swivel-chair stiffened. He glanced around. There was a person leaned against the wall, some other teacher brewing coffee on the other side of the wall, and a few others preoccupied with their laptops. Even though the coast was clear, he couldn't help but stare. It was all so...mundane. He thought he'd left all of this behind when he decided to be a magus. Or to be more exact..no. He shook his head. No point in dredging all of that backlog up.

Slowly, he slid out a leather-bound book from the depths of the bag. A corner of his mind still admired how the cover felt to the touch, even with his anxiety still taught against the chair. It was crazy, of course it was, a magus can be killed for less. Yet still, he had to do this. It was his calling after all. His thumb found the folded paper among the pages, the most recent out of the hundreds on this book alone. Where had he left off yesterday? Right, at the condemnation, leading to the concealment of necromancy. He'd been meaning to catch up but whenever he was at home he couldn't help himself being drawn to that, that _video game_. He absentmindedly twiddled with the edge of the paper, mimicking its controls. He definitely had more important things to do like preparing teaching materials or studying on magecraft but _that video game_... He'll be free once he finishes the thing, he's sure.

His eye had just caught the first word when the office door opened itself to a flood of, okay four kids. He stifled a groan, what were they doing? A returning throb of the headache pulsed as if to answer the question. Just as he was about to get up from his seat and shoo them off, someone else stepped in through the door. He froze, shrinking behind the cover of the divider. It was that rude man... Was rude the right word? He watched as the man walked past to the other side of the office, kids in tow like ducklings. They were talking now, speaking in high excited tones that made him pause. These kids were capable of being excited in front of someone? Laughter, pure and sweet, rang out and his fingers dug into the divider's surface. It was just him, wasn't it. Of course.

He turned back to his own desk, to his book. His eyes mechanically searched for where he left off. Was that his hand shaking or just the book digging into his palms? _Focus._ What did he care about this side job? There was nothing at stake, nothing that mattered so why-

"Hey."

Waver's knee banged on the bottom of the desk, effectively hiding the book from sight as he collapsed on top of it. He looked up, still in pain, to the sudden disturber. "You alright?" That man again...

"What do you want?" His voice was so petulant that he wanted to punch himself. Somehow the man didn't and instead chuckled. Maybe that was worse.

"I was gonna give you this." He eyed the thing in the other's hand. A Snicker? "To keep you kicking until your class ends." He eyed the treat for a bit longer. What was this guy's deal?

In the end, Waver took it. "Thank you." He muttered. "I appreciate the gesture."

"You're welcome!" Hmph. " Say, what was that book you're reading? Doesn't seem like one of our teaching materials."

The question jolted him up back to sitting. "Nothing." He cursed inwardly, that was too fast. "Just some reading I do in my casual time."

"Really? What's it about?"

Oh, you had to be kidding- "Just things." His brain felt like a freight train rode over it, no flash of an idea or even a hint came to his rescue. "W-Why are you so interested in my affairs, anyway?"

A tone other than optimistic enthusiasm bled into the man's voice. "I didn't mean to pry! Well, I guess was. Sorry, didn't mean to be rude. I just reached out to the closet conversation topic." A tone other than wariness was starting to bleed into Waver as well. Was that man somehow trying to be...? "Let me start over." The man outstretched a hand. "I'll introduce myself. I'm Gran Cessabit. And you're?"

Waver hesitated. The gesture reminded him of a strong voice, a presence... He finally reclaimed his voice. "...Waver Velvet." He took the hand. It was endlessly lacking what could have been, and he kicked his shin for thinking that.

"Nice. I should have brought your Britishness into account back then before we got acquainted."

His eyes narrowed again. "How does that make sense exactly?"

"See, there goes your Britishness again. Oh and by the way, I'll stop asking you about the book. Call it a deal."

Waver blinked, missing the point to counter. His head pounded, again not cooperating with the rest of him. "It's not a deal if I don't do something in return, you know." Unfortunately, his mouth was not the smartest.

"You're smart, you can think of something."

"I-Is that an insult?" Maybe this man was just simply being rude after all.


End file.
